Thursday, May 27, 2010

Husbands Love Your Wives

The latest issue of the Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood is now available. The JBMW is not exclusively online. It is an outstanding resource.Online VersionPDF VersionThe Council for Biblical Manhood and WomanhoodCheck out the article by Rob Lister which offers a practical plan for helping husbands to better love their wives. After setting the proper context Lister suggests a series of questions for husbands and wives to discuss in order to assess the health of their marriage.

After praying and seeking God’s blessing on our time, we turn our attention to the following questions:

(1) On a scale of 1-10, give your overall assess- ment of our marriage in the past six months. To be sure, this is a very broad and subjective item, but I have found it helpful to open the conversation with an item of this kind of breadth, because it helps to prime the pump. Obviously, you won’t hit on a ton of specifics with this one—that’s what the rest of the questions are for—but I have been truly amazed at just how much discussion this assessment alone can generate, as various issues come to mind. From there, we’re off and running. Follow-up questions in the event that the conversation fails to gain traction initially: What have been the strengths of the past six months? What would make your assessment higher?

(2) How has the husband’s leadership been over the past six months? The wife’s support? Fol-low-up: How can I improve in fulfilling my respec- tive role?

(3) How is your walk with God, both person-ally and as a couple?

(4) Where do you see ungodliness in my life?

(5) Do I have any unconfessed sin that needs to be shared with my spouse?